Gloucester, Massachusetts– A coalition of authorities is deploying technology to try to locate the wreckage of a fishing boat that sank last month off Massachusetts, killing all seven aboard. But winter weather and sea conditions have so far slowed their efforts.
The ship, Lily Jane, is 72 feet (22 m) long. He was returning to port Early January 30 to repair fishing gear when it sank in the frigid Atlantic waters off the historic fishing port of Gloucester. Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Massachusetts Environmental Police, are cooperating to try to find the shipwreck and potentially recover the bodies of the deceased, officials said Wednesday.
The Lily Jean sank in waters over 300 feet deep and were very inhospitable in winter. Environmental police deployed a side-scanning sonar device to try to collect data and detect anomalies on the ocean floor, officials said. They said they also hope to be able to send a remotely operated vehicle to the site to collect photos and videos, but the seas have made that difficult so far.
Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Republican from Gloucester, said officials will provide updates to a community still grieving the loss of the victims.
“One of the most painful things about grief or loss at sea is not knowing,” Tarr said during a news conference on Wednesday. “Answering these questions requires a tremendous amount of effort.”
The Coast Guard initially launched a search and rescue mission after receiving an alert from the ship about 25 miles (40 kilometers) off Cape Ann. The Coast Guard said searchers found a debris field near where the alert was sent as well as a body in the water and an empty life raft. It was research hanging The next day, the community has rallied around the victims’ families ever since.
Gloucester is America’s oldest seaport and is known for its close-knit fishing community. The book and movie “The Perfect Storm” are based on the ship FV Andrea Gail, which disappeared at sea in 1991.
Coast Guard officials identified the victims of the sinking of the Lily Jane as Captain Accursio “Gus” Sanfilippo and crew members Paul Bell Sr., Paul Bell Jr., John Rosanidis, Freeman Short, and Sean Therrien. Also on board was Jada Summitt, a fisheries monitor with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Ricky Bell, Paul Bell Sr.’s brother, said during Wednesday’s news conference that he hopes the investigation will help families in the community better understand what happened. He also urged everyone following the investigation not to spread false information about it.
Bell said: “For now, and hopefully in the future, the investigation will give us some light on what happened. But for now, only God knows what happened on that fateful morning.”
Lily Jean, Sanfilippo and his crew appeared in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men.” The captain is described as a fifth generation commercial fisherman, from Gloucester, Georges Bank. The crew is shown working in dangerous weather conditions for hours on end, spending up to 10 days out fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder.
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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.